Classes 2017

Explorations in Double TwillTwo-hour lecture at the Complex Weavers Southeast Gathering. June 17-18, 2017, at the Yadkin Valley Fiber Room. For more information on the Gathering, click on above link.

Spin Your Own YarnJan. 17 - Mar. 13. Learn to use the simple drop spindle to spin your own woolen yarn for knitting, crochet, or weaving. This hand tool of prehistoric origin is inexpensive, portable, and easy to use. Create a mid-weight yarn suitable for garments, accessories, and household items. Pack all your spinning supplies in a lunchbag-sized tote and take it with you on vacation! Click on Winter Brochure 2017.

Books

The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop®Co-authored by Alice Schlein and Bhakti Ziek. 362 pages, many illustrations. Now available for free download on handweaving.net. The accompanying CD with 1400 pattern presets is not included with the free download, but may be purchased separately. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for more information.

Network Drafting: An IntroductionBy Alice Schlein. Break away from the block. Curves for your dobby loom. Originally published in 1994, now available as print-on-demand from www.lulu.com.

Monographs

Lampas for Shaft LoomsClass notes from Complex Weavers Seminars 2016, newly revised and formatted, in pdf form for download. A review of methods for designing your own lampas fabrics for treadle looms, table looms, and dobbies, eight shafts and above. Over 90 color photos of actual fabrics with drafts. Includes info on pickup lampas and a lampas bibliography. View on a computer, or print out one copy for your own use. USD$21. via PayPal. Email aschlein[at]att[dot]net for ordering info.

A Crepe Is Not Just a Pancake52 pages of text, b&w and color diagrams, and drafts for multishaft tradle & dobby looms. Many color photos of actual cloth. Methods for drafting your own crepe weaves. Annotated bibliography. Pdf available for immediate download. $21. USD. Payment by PayPal. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for payment instructions.

Echo Weave Based on the 1996 article in Weaver's, Issue 32. With brand new diagrams and high resolution scans of original fabrics. Pdf available for immediate download. $7. USD. Payment by PayPal. Email me at aschlein[at]att[dot]net for payment instructions.

May 23, 2016

We thought the Grand Prix de Monaco was running today and we got up very early to watch the start. Well, we were misinformed—it's not til next week. But there we were, with the coffee already made, the bread in the toaster, the marmalade on the table, so we got on with the day. It was nice to have the extra time, actually. I took my walk earlier than usual.

The sun at that early hour was at a very low angle. The ferns in the front yard were backlit, and the hydrangeas were still in shadow. Everything looked different and mysterious. Strong shadows were cast on the sidewalk.

In the studio I began winding a new warp. All blue this time—three closely related shades—and I think the color will appear deep and complex in the cloth when crossed with another blue.

The beaming will have to wait until after Complex Weavers Seminars, however, as I'd like to make one more book with round-back spine before I go. Not that I need to, mind you; it's just that I've been bitten by the round-back spine bug.

May 04, 2016

I am midway through the reading of Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams, a meditation on the Arctic and our place in it and in the world, and came across this stunning description of the color of polar bears:

The ivory and pearl shading we see in a polar bear’s fur is caused by the refraction of sunlight (the same phenomenon that makes clouds appear white) in its guard hairs. The hair itself is optically transparent, or colorless. The brightest whites show up at the spring molt, the purest of these being those of young cubs. With exposure to sunlight, the hairs take on a subtle coloring; soft yellowish tones appear on the hips, along the flanks, and down the legs—a pale lemon wash, apricot yellows, cream buffs, straw whites. The tones deepen each year as the animal ages. In the low sunlight of a fall afternoon an older male’s fur might suggest the yellow golds of ripe wheat.

Above is my poor attempt to reproduce the polar bear palette in Photoshop.

April 17, 2016

Yesterday's Asheville Artisan Bread Bakers Festival 2016 was a real winner. It's an annual event not to be missed. As usual, the vendors' area was packed with displays of the most gorgeous bread imaginable, and the aromas were heavenly. Here are just a few snapshots of the action.

To keep up our strength, we retired to a sunny grassy spot on the A-B Tech campus with a couple of warm pretzels and a chocolate tart, supplementing our apples and cheese, and then went back to the Magnolia building for our afternoon seminars. First was an excellent history and technical review of the wood-fired oven by Richard Miscovich, and then an update of the latest developments in sprouted grains by the witty and knowledgeable bread expert Peter Reinhart.

Then a drive back down the mountain in the most perfect spring weather. What a great day.

January 30, 2016

You've seen versions of this before, but this morning it was especially intriguing. Multiple plaids.

The day dawned bright and sunny, much too nice to stay indoors, even at the loom. So off we went up the mountain to check out Marshall, North Carolina. It's the county seat of Madison County, and has a big beautiful dome atop its courthouse:

Marshall is a cute, cozy little town with a friendly air, today full of cyclists. We found a lunch place in an old warehouse down a side street.

The ladies' room wall had some prime graffiti. Here's an example. Click to enlarge:

Bruce prowled some older neighborhoods with his camera, and I took out my sketchbook.

We chose the long way back, along the French Broad River. What a gorgeous ride!

At home, the hyacinth on my kitchen table has grown an inch during the day.

December 24, 2015

The Miniature World of Trains recently opened its new location in Greenville. It's the largest most technically advanced HO Scale Model Railroad in North America. The above video shows only a small part of the huge display. You can see a simulation of downtown Greenville in the rear, with functioning traffic lights! Adults and children alike will find this a fascinating place to visit.

That little blue warehouse looks about the right size for a weaving studio, with perhaps a couple of HO Scale dobby looms and a spinning wheel or two. Hm-m-m...

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and weaverly holiday season and a good New Year.